It isn’t very often that something I make is this good. And by “this good” I mean a roll your eyes back into your head sort of good, the type of thing that makes you moan and groan and mutter to yourself about how delicious it is. The sort of thing that you’re entirely grateful that your hubby is working out of town because that means more for you, and the leftovers will be fantastic. Last night’s dinner was just such a thing, and surprisingly enough it was also a vegetarian dinner. It really shouldn’t have been surprising to me, but I’ll tell you, I’ve been leery of this type of dish for so long, but yesterday I spied a can of black beans in the pantry and I immediately had a hankering for something with black beans. I settled on burritos for the kids, but I wanted something special with the black beans and I decided that this was going to be the day to try my hand at making some black bean burgers.
So I pulled out my trusty “How To Cook Everything Vegetarian” by Mark Bittman and looked in the index under black bean for something resembling burgers or cakes. The recipe I flipped to was called Baked White Bean Cakes and had several variations- including a black bean one. I scanned the recipe, decided it was easy enough and then divided the measurements in half, since I had 1 1/2 cups of black beans at my disposal. The cakes came together easily enough. I followed the directions pretty precisely, although I used my own variation. First, I used the black beans and for the cheese I used a 2 year old aged cheddar. For the fresh herb I used parsley, and then I also added a pinch of cumin to the whole thing. The batter was a lot like a cookie dough- as described in the recipe. I dolloped it out into four equal portions and set it to baking in the oven. When they came out I placed one on a tortilla with a dollop of sour cream, salsa, lettuce and tomato, and sat down to one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. Seriously, it was that good. When I was finished with my portion, I eyed the remaining three and then decided I had to have one more to see if it really was that good. This one I ate with a fork and just a bit of sour cream- it was just as heavenly. I’m hooked, that’s for sure. I have many more plans for beans and cakes, and I daresay that if Andy had been here, even he would have enjoyed the rabbit food.
Baked White Bean Cakes
from Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything Vegetarian
Makes 4 servings
1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Put the beans in a large bowl and mash lightly with a fork. Add the eggs and cheese and whisk with the fork until combined.
2. Put 2 tablespoons of the oil or butter in a small skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is hot or the butter is melted, stir in the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until they are soft and golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the rosemary and remove from the heat.
3. Put the flour, baking powder, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper (taking into account how well seasoned your beans were to start with) into the bowl with the beans. Add the onion mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. The consistency should be like thick cookie dough. If not, add a little more flour.
4. Use the remaining oil or butter to grease a baking sheet. Use a large spoon or your hands to form the bean mixture into 8 bean cakes and put them on the prepared pan. Bake until golden and crisp, about 30 minutes, and serve hot or at room temperature.
Cheesy Baked Red Bean Cakes: Terrific with salsa: Use red beans instead of white, grated Monterey Jack or Cheddar instead of the Parmesan, and epazote or oregano instead of the rosemary.
Black Bean Cakes with Queso Fresco: Great texture, with the cheese staying semi-firm. Serve with plain white rice and chimchurri: Use black beans instead of white, crumbled queso fresco instead of the parmesan and sage or parsley instead of the rosemary.
Baked Lentil Cakes with Gruyere: Best with Le Puy or other small black or green lentils, but brown are good too: Use lentils instead of the white beans, grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese, and thyme or tarragon instead of the rosemary.